Eric Celarier
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Wasteland XIV
Circuit Board, Leather, 57 x 40, 2011, $3,500
Circuit Board, Leather, 57 x 40, 2011, $3,500
About The Artist
Artist Statement
Trash tells us what is ultimately important to us. Though controversy broils over thesource of so much electronic garbage in the Agbogbloshie wetlands of Accra, Ghanna, there can be no doubt that little thought was given to the health and well being of citizens who reclaim elements from this trash. Yet for all the continued inequities brought about by the colonial occupation of these lands, the spirit of African ingenuity permeates global culture.
El Anatsui, Ghanna’s most celebrated artist, said, “you do art with whatever is around you.” Using liquor bottle tops to create large wall hangings, his work describes a country’s painful circumstances in an affirmative way. Often missed by the world’s most powerful entities, this resourcefulness that survived the largest forced migration in history in order to build the infrastructure of America still pervades.
My Wasteland series describes the history, variety, and surplus of electronic rubbish. Resembling patchwork quilts, these tapestries, made from expired circuit boards, allow the viewer to access the aesthetics underneath the glass, plastic, and steel shells of mundane appliances. The viewer is invited to ponder the meaning and scope of garbage that could easily have been found in the Agbogbloshie.
Bio
Eric Celarier was born, lives, and works in the Washington Area. He received his B.A.from the University of Maryland in 1991 and his M.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati in 1997. His most recent activity includes a solo show at NIH’s Clincal Center curated by Lillian Fitgerald (2015), a group show, Co-Exist, with Albert Schweitzer and Glen Richardson at the Otis Street Arts Project curated by Molly Ruppet (2015), sold at the 2015 fundraiser for WPA at Hickok Cole, a group show, Recompose, with Elizabeth Burger, William Peirce, and Karen Schulz, at the BlackRock Center for the Arts (2015), a solo show, Garbage, at Mount Saint Mary’s curated by Elizabeth Holtry (2014), a group show, Electronic Aesthetics, with Glen Kessler, curated by Judith Heartsong (2014), and a solo show, Wasteland, at McLean Project for the Arts (2014).
Trash tells us what is ultimately important to us. Though controversy broils over thesource of so much electronic garbage in the Agbogbloshie wetlands of Accra, Ghanna, there can be no doubt that little thought was given to the health and well being of citizens who reclaim elements from this trash. Yet for all the continued inequities brought about by the colonial occupation of these lands, the spirit of African ingenuity permeates global culture.
El Anatsui, Ghanna’s most celebrated artist, said, “you do art with whatever is around you.” Using liquor bottle tops to create large wall hangings, his work describes a country’s painful circumstances in an affirmative way. Often missed by the world’s most powerful entities, this resourcefulness that survived the largest forced migration in history in order to build the infrastructure of America still pervades.
My Wasteland series describes the history, variety, and surplus of electronic rubbish. Resembling patchwork quilts, these tapestries, made from expired circuit boards, allow the viewer to access the aesthetics underneath the glass, plastic, and steel shells of mundane appliances. The viewer is invited to ponder the meaning and scope of garbage that could easily have been found in the Agbogbloshie.
Bio
Eric Celarier was born, lives, and works in the Washington Area. He received his B.A.from the University of Maryland in 1991 and his M.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati in 1997. His most recent activity includes a solo show at NIH’s Clincal Center curated by Lillian Fitgerald (2015), a group show, Co-Exist, with Albert Schweitzer and Glen Richardson at the Otis Street Arts Project curated by Molly Ruppet (2015), sold at the 2015 fundraiser for WPA at Hickok Cole, a group show, Recompose, with Elizabeth Burger, William Peirce, and Karen Schulz, at the BlackRock Center for the Arts (2015), a solo show, Garbage, at Mount Saint Mary’s curated by Elizabeth Holtry (2014), a group show, Electronic Aesthetics, with Glen Kessler, curated by Judith Heartsong (2014), and a solo show, Wasteland, at McLean Project for the Arts (2014).
